Amusement device



H. HALFPENNY.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7', 1921.

1,393,117, Patented Oct. 11, 1921.

IN vcrn oa HERBERT HHLFPENNY UNITED STATES PATENT ()FF IC'E.

HERBERT HALFPENNY, 0F BRANTFOED, ONTARIO, CANADA.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

Application filed February To all whom 912? may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT HALFPENNY, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city of Brantford, in the county of Brant, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in amusement devices for use in the water and the object of the invention is to devise an apparatus which will provide fascinating sport while in swimming and the use of which will also provide beneficial exercise.

My invention consists of a horizontal, flat, main plane adapted to support the body of the operator in the prone position, a propeller suitably mounted under the rear end of the said plane, foot pedals mounted to operate the propeller, a diving head hinged at the front end of the main plane, handles for operating the diving head, twin rudders-op erated by suitable connection to the diving head operating means, and buoyancy tanks, all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of my invention, thebuoyancy tanks omitted. for clearness.

' Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof, the rear buoyancy tank being omitted.

Fig. 3. is a side elevation with the rear buoyancy tank omitted.

Fig. 1 is a rear view showing the method of supporting the propeller and also showing the twin rudders.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view to show the construction of the bar used in operating the divinghead andin steering.

Fig. 6 is a skeleton elevation of therear end of my device showing the position of the rear buoyancy tank.

Fig. 7 is a rear view and Fig. 8 is. a plan view of the tank.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views.

1 is the main plane which comprises the front portion 2 and the narrowed rear por tion 3. 4: is a strengthening keel strip secured longitudinally to the under face of the main plane.

5 is" the diving head which extends forwa dl rom the. ront earl of. the, neinr a e Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 11, 1921.

7, 1921. Serial N0. $13,193.

and is hingedly connected thereto by the hinges 6 and a single rod 7 which engages all of the hinges 6.

8 is a transversely disposed bar which is pivoted centrally to the under side of the diving head 5 by the bolt 9, the purpose of which will appear hereinafter. i

This bar (see Fig.6) has the end handles 10 and is provided with the undercut portions 11. V

14 are quadrants secured to the under face of the diving head and engage respectively the undercut portions 11 for limiting the rotation of the bar 8. l

15 are screw eyes carried by thebar 8 for a purpose as will presently appear.

16 is a frame carried at the rear of the main plane for supporting the propelling mechanism and rudders.

The frame 16 comprises the two longitudinal bent members 17 which are secured to the under side of the portion 3 at 18 and to the upper side thereof at 19. v

The propeller 20 is housed in a cage 21 at the rear end, of the frame 16 which comprises the guard bars 2-2 forming part of the frame 16. I 1 l The propeller is mounted upon the shaft 23 which has its front end journaled in the hanger 24: secured to the main. plane at 25 and its rear end journaled at26 in the rear cross bar 27 of the frame 16.

28 is a thrust bearing for, the rear end of the propeller shaft.

29 is a bevel pinion carried by the front end of the propeller shaft and engages the crown wheel 80 which is fixedly mounted on the transverse shaft 31..

The shaft 31 .isjournaled in hearings in the side bars 32 of the frame 16 and '38 are thrust collars carried by this shaft.

'84 are cranked ends formed on the shaf 31 and carry foot pedals 35.

36 are twin, vertical rudders secured to the shafts 37 which have their'upper ends pivotally mounted in the under face of. the main plane and their lowerendsin the cross bar 38 of the frame 16.

39 is a connecting link or distance piece connecting the rudders 36 so that they move together.

4.0 are steering cables which are secured respectively to the two screw eyes 15 (see Fig.2) and? t e Qtaesables ried at the rear end of the dGVlCG. It is detachably mountedto the rear frame by the hook clips 4%? and to the main plane by the clips 48.

The construction and operation of my device is as follows:

The main plane is of wood and is shaped so-that when placed on the surface of the water it will support the body of the operator comfortably. The upper part of the body rests on the wide portion 2 while the feet engage the pedals 35, the width of the narrow part 3 being such as to allow free and comfortable movement of the legs at each side. a V V 7 To use the device, it is placed in the water and i the operator lies face down thereon. The arms may be passed under the straps 42 so that these straps engage the shoulders and serve tohold the operator in proper position. a

The handles 10 of the operating bar 8 are grasped with the hands and it will be evident that when the cranks Mare rotated.

that the propeller will be driven through the medium of the crown wheel 30, pinion .29, and shaft 23.

Theend thrust of the propeller is taken by the bearing 28 and the side thrust of the crown wheel is taken by the thrust collars 33. I In this way the device will be driven along the surface of the water.

Steering is accomplished by turning the bar 8 about its pivot point9. The operation of the steering-mechanism will be clearly followed from Fig. 2. The rudders 36 be ing connected by the link 39, both must turn synchronously and will therefore always work in unison. One of the extreme. positions of the bar 8 and rudders36 is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

By means of the diving head 5 it is pos sible to submerge. V To do this th head is inclined clownwardly by means of :the'bar 8 into the position shown in dotted lines at A (see Fig. 3-). It will now ,be evident that as the propeller is driven, the forward end of the device will be directed downwardly and thus the complete apparatus willsubmerge.

To rise again the diving head is moved into the position shown at B (see Fig.

In .ordertoincrease the buoyancy of the device, the air tanks-7&4 maybe attached to the forward wide portion 2 which carries toon shape as illustrated.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred construction it is to be understood that various modifications could be made in the exact details of constructionwithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

For instance other ways of connecting the diving head to the main plane could be used in place of the type of hinge shown, and it might in factbe made rigid with respect to the main plane. In this case the device would only travel along the surface and could not submerge as previously described. Also the details of the rear frame 16 and the cage 21 could obviously be altered.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have devised an improved amusement device which will provide very fascinating sport. V

What Iclaim as my invention is:

1; An amusement device comprising, a buoyant main plane adapted to support the operator in the prone position, propelling means carried at the rear end thereof and adapted to be operated by the feet of the operator, steering means, suitably mounted at the rear end of the device, a diving plane transversely hinged to the front end of the main plane andv extending longitudinally forward therefrom, a transversely disposed operating bar pivoted centrallyof its length to therdiving plane, handles at the ends of saidbar, connections between said bar and the steering means at the rear for operating said steering means as the bar is rotated about its pivot point, said bar adapted to incline the diving plane with respect tothe main plane when the handles are depressed.

2. An amusement; device comprising, a buoyant main plane adapted to support the operator in the prone. position, a frame sus pended at the rear end thereof,.a screw propellerwithin the frame and mounted upon a longitudinally disposedpropeller shaft, a transverse shaft journaled in the frame and in operative engagement with the propeller shaft, cranks carried at the ends of the transverse shaft, said cranks adapted to be rotated by the feet of the operator, a pair of parallel vertically disposed rudders: car

ried within saidv frame,-a distance link-con versely hinged to the front end of the main plane and extending forwardly therefrom, a transverse operating bar pivoted centrally of its length to the diving plane, handles at the ends of said bar, steering ropes connecting the rudders to the bar whereby the rudders are turned when the bar is rotated about its pivot point, the diving plane adapted to be swung about its hinge connection by means of the aforesaid handles.

3. An amusement device comprising, a buoyant main plane adapted to support the operator in the prone position, propelling means at the rear end thereof, manually operated steering means, submerging means at the front and loop members engaging the arms of the operator for retaining the operator in position on the devlce.

4L. An amusement devlce comprising, a

main plane having a wide forward section 20 of the device, a buoyancy tank carried at each 25 side of the wide forward section of the main plane and a further buoyancy tank carried at the rear end of the device.

HERBERT HALFPENNY. Witnesses:

F. G. BIsooE, JNo. W. WESTBROOK. 

